Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.  In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.

We are all adopted children of God through Jesus Christ, who made us his brothers and sisters through his life, passion, death, and resurrection. He broke his body and poured out his blood for us in order to secure us our adoption... to make us co-heirs to the Kingdom of God. He shows us how to be good and faithful children to our Heavenly Father. He shared his own Holy Mother with us while on the cross and asked us to take her into our homes and hearts. He gave us his Holy Spirit to be our advocate and constant guide. He has offered his love, his mercy, his saving and sanctifying grace to fill us with good things so we might grow in favor with God and give praise and glory to Him for all He has done for us.

How are we living out our calling to be co-heirs to the kingdom of God? What can we do to become more faithful children of our Lord? Do we give thanks for all the blessings God has given us, especially the Holy Spirit and our Holy Queen, Mary?

O Lord, bless us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.

Amen.

Thanksgiving

I will praise your name forever, Lord. Generation after generation praises your works and proclaims your might. They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty and tell of your wondrous works. 

There is much we should be thankful for as Christians. We should be thankful for having a Heavenly Father, who created us in His Divine Image. We should be thankful for His Beloved Son, who proclaimed the Good News for us and gave up his life so we might be saved from sin and death. We should be thankful for the Holy Spirit, who is always with us, granting us inspiration and guidance so we might lead holy lives. The Holy Trinity is someone we can all praise forever because He has done so many works for us, great and small. He has united us with himself, revealing His Love, Mercy, and Grace. Yes, indeed, we have much to be thankful for because our God is full of glorious majesty and wondrous works.

What are we thankful for this year? In what ways do we show our thankfulness to God for all He has given us? What can we do to help make others thankful?

O Lord, we will praise your works and proclaim your might forever and ever.

Amen.

Fifth Wednesday of Easter

Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. Jerusalem, built as a city with compact unity. To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD.

Like the city of Jerusalem, we are built with compact unity. We are united with God through His Scriptures and the Traditions of the Church He left for us. We are united with His children through the brotherhood of Jesus Christ. We are walled around with the protection of God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace. It is with Him that we are fulfilled and in Him that we find our source, center, and summit. With Him on our side, all things are possible. We should rejoice at this thought and be thankful for all God has done to keep us united with Him in body, mind, and spirit. Hopefully, we do the same for those whom we meet.

Are we united with God as we should be? Are we united with our brothers and sisters in Christ? How can we fulfill our calling to be one with our Lord and God?

O Lord, build up the unity of your Church through us.

Amen.

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering. He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin. Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them 'brothers.'

God sent us His Beloved Son so we might become brothers and sisters in Christ. God did not have to lower Himself and become flesh and blood. He did not need to be born of the Virgin Mary. He could have come to earth in any form and yet he choose to come as one of us. He choose to lower himself for a little while and become a helpless baby born of a young mother. He choose to grow up under obedience to his earthly parents. He remained hidden for thirty years of his life. As one of us, he must have suffered in a thousand little ways before He took up the mantle of Messiah. Bumps and bruises, lost loved ones, and other unrecorded troubles. And after he began proclaiming the Good News, he suffered even more... disappointments, rejections, mockery, and persecution. All culminating in his Passion and Death so he might rise again and bring with him the promise of the Resurrection. We would do well to remember this as we go through our lives. When we feel that God has abandoned us, we should look to the cross and remember Jesus bore great burdens for us and will never ask of us to carry more than we can bear.

Do we act like brothers and sisters in Christ? Have we mediated on what it means that God sent His Beloved Son into the world to live and die as one of us? How can we live more faithfully as the adopted children of God?

O Lord, we are not ashamed to call you our brother and our Savior.

Amen.

Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, bishop & doctor of the Church

Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and through whom we exist. But not all have this knowledge.

Our lives should be founded upon our relationship with God. It is because of Him that we exist and it is in Him and through Him that we find our fulfillment. This is why it is so important to understand our connections to God and to strive to live in accordance with God’s Will. He is our Heavenly Father and we are His children. As such we should constantly seek God’s protection, do all we can to follow His commandments, and fear disappointing Him in any way. We should also recognize God as our Spiritual Brother, who teaches us how to know, love, and serve Him and our siblings in Christ. Last but not least, we must allow the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide us as an Advocate who wants only the best for us. By doing these things, we become more perfectly united to the Holy Trinity and are prepared more fully for a life everlasting with Him.

How can we become better children to Our Heavenly Father? In what ways can we better follow the Way, the Truth, and the Life of our Heavenly Brother, Jesus Christ? Are we willing to let the Holy Spirit enkindle us with the fires of true love and mercy?

O Lord, it is for you that we all exist and we shall only rest peacefully when we have made ourselves right with you.

Amen.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.  In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.

We are all adopted children of God through Jesus Christ, who made us his brothers and sisters through his life, passion, death, and resurrection. He broke his body and poured out his blood for us in order to secure us our adoption... to make us co-heirs to the Kingdom of God. He shows us how to be good and faithful children to our Heavenly Father. He shared his own Holy Mother with us while on the cross and asked us to take her into our homes and hearts. He gave us his Holy Spirit to be our advocate and constant guide. He has offered his love, his mercy, his saving and sanctifying grace to fill us with good things so we might grow in favor with God and give praise and glory to Him for all He has done for us.

How are we living out our calling to be co-heirs to the kingdom of God? What can we do to become more faithful children of our Lord? Do we give thanks for all the blessings God has given us, especially the Holy Spirit and our Holy Queen, Mary?

O Lord, bless us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.

Amen.

Fourth Friday of Ordinary Time

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body. Let marriage be honored among all
and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers. Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you.

Brotherly love is a powerful and profound action. It requires us to see everyone as our brothers and sisters in Christ and to treat them with charity and respect. For we are all heirs to the Kingdom of God, and as such we should seek to live in peace and love with each other. We cannot do this if we let petty differences, old grudges, or any other prejudices enter into our relationships with others. We might not like what a person does, but that doesn’t give us a right to disown him. We are all children of God with inherent dignities that must be respected even in those we most dislike. This dignity also calls upon us to honor each other be it as family members, friends, or strangers. It requires us to set aside our personal desires and choose what is best for all God’s children. If we live according to the way of brotherly love, then we shall have but one Heavenly Father for our protector, who shall never forsake or abandon us.

Are our lives built upon brotherly love? How do we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially when they are difficult to love? Have we chosen to love God the Father and His children above all else in this world?

O Lord, free us of those things that keep us from loving all others as our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene

"Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and then reported what he told her.

God is not only the Father of Jesus, but also of us. This is why Jesus speaks of his disciples as his brothers. We are his family. He wants to be with us, to help us in all we do, and lead us to life everlasting. He sacrificed himself for us and we should be willing to do the same for him. If we do make our lives into living sacrifices for God, then our eyes will be opened to seeing the Lord, speaking His Word, and doing His Works. He will be with us in spirit and truth and we shall have nothing to be afraid or weep about. He shall protect and console us in our times of need. We would do well to remember our kinship with Christ and make every effort to know, love, and serve him as he knows, loves, and serves us.

How often do we give thanks to our Heavenly Father for what he has done for us? Are we willing to sacrifice our lives to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ’s resurrection? How often do we turn to Christ as not just our savior, but also our spiritual brother and comforter?

O Lord, led us to our Heavenly Father.

Amen.

Sixteenth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

"Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother."

We are all the brothers, sisters, and mothers of Christ when we do the will of our Heavenly Father. Mary’s life is the perfect example of living in accord with the Holy Spirit. She does this perfectly even when she does not always understand the reason God is asking her to do something. She did not understand what becoming the Mother of God would mean, but she said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to your word.” She did not understand why Jesus left her side and spent three days alone in the temple, but she still kept all these things in her heart. She did not understand why her son was condemned to death and crucified, but she accepted Jesus’ final words to her and became the Mother of the Church through John. It is Mary’s willingness to accept God’s Will that is the true reason why she was chosen by God to bear His Beloved Son and become our spiritual mother. She gives us a perfect example of what it means to magnify the Lord through our every thought, word, and work. We would do well to learn from her for she knows the Heavenly Father as only a daughter can know Him, she knows Jesus as only a mother can know him, and she knows the Holy Spirit as only a bride can know her husband. As such, she shows us how to live our lives as members of God’s heavenly family.

Do we do God’s Will or our own? Have we taken the time to meditate upon Mary’s life and make her virtues our own? How can we make our own hearts open to the inspirations of the Holy Trinity?

O Lord, we want only to do your will and be members of your heavenly family.

Amen.

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he had told her.

Jesus’ Father is our Father and our God. It is from Him that we received Jesus, His Beloved Son and the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus’ Resurrection, the Holy Trinity has shown us a merciful love greater than anything else on earth. It reminds us of our personal and communal relationships with God and each other. After all, if God is our Father, Brother, and Advocate, then we are all part of a holy and eternal family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and co-heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven. All we have to do is profess our faith, live in hope, and act out of love for God and our spiritual siblings.

Do we spend time each day nurturing our relationship with the Holy Trinity? How can we come to know, love, and serve God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? In what way do our lives proclaim the Good News to our fellow children of God?

O Lord, you are our Father and our God.

Amen.